TRENDING:

Joost

Mar 13, 2016

It was a sunny afternoon in Johannesburg in March 2011. I was in the pool with a doctor friend of mine, playing games with my son.

Dr. Henry Kelbrick noticed that my right arm was lagging slightly and he asked me if I have experienced weakness in my arm, he also noticed that my speech was slurred and he decided to send me to a neurologist for tests. On return of my test results, I was sitting in Dr. Kelbrick’s office when he broke the horrific news of my diagnosis to me. I think it must have been one of the most difficult things for him to do. Being the optimist I am and not knowing what motor neuron disease is, I asked him to prescribe me medicine so that my life can continue. He replied; “I´m sorry my friend, this is a fatal disease and there is no cure.”

And so the second half of my life started…

This was the beginning of a whole new chapter in my life that forever changed the way I perceived and tackled life.

Joost was diagnosed with motor neuron disease by neurologists in South Africa and this was confirmed at the Cleveland Clinic in the US in 2011. Importantly, Joost has the most severe form of the neurodegenerative disease which led to an accelerated deterioration in his health.

Joost travelled to Harley Street in London in late April 2012 to see if the treatment could help him. After receiving a once daily treatment of Aimspro (administered by a subcutaneous injection), Joosts condition has been stabilised with a degree of improvement being observed in the subsequent months since starting treatment.

When flight BA 54 from Johannesburg touches down at Heathrow Airport amid typically bleak London weather, it brings with it a ray of sunshine for sufferers of Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Treatment

Joost was diagnosed with motor neuron disease by neurologists in South Africa and this was confirmed at the Cleveland Clinic in the US in 2011. Importantly, Joost has the most severe form of the neurodegenerative disease which led to an accelerated deterioration in his health.

Joost travelled to Harley Street in London in late April 2012 to see if the treatment could help him. After receiving a once daily treatment of Aimspro (administered by a subcutaneous injection), Joosts condition has been stabilised with a degree of improvement being observed in the subsequent two months since starting treatment.

Bl!nk Pictures have responded with delight to news that the film “Joost: Spel van Glorie” has been selected to premier at the kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival later this month.

Joost's Rugby Career

Joost van der Westhuizen is a former South African rugby union footballer who was the Springboks’ first choice scrum-half in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s.

He was capped 89 times for the Springboks and scored 38 tries. He retired as the most capped Springbok of all time His career test try tally of 38 makes him the scrum-half with the most tries in Test Rugby. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest half-backs of all time, as evidenced by his presence in the 2007 induction class of the International Rugby Hall of Fame.